Proposals submitted for a public hearing on California’s Class 4b minimum milk pricing formula “dry whey scale” are similar in tone and content to those submitted more than a year ago.

Aphanomyces root rot has plagued alfalfa growers for decades. Over the years, two different genetic manifestations of the disease have been discovered: Race 1 and Race 2. Fortunately, alfalfa varieties with resistance to both races have been on the market for a while, providing excellent protection for alfalfa growers across the country.

I taught my 14-year-old grandson how to open a can of chili with a pocketknife the other day. We were at a campground, and it was a “Grandpa and boy only” outing celebrating his birthday. The always-ready camp cooking box wasn’t, which we didn’t notice until we couldn’t produce a can opener.

I am troubled by age discrimination in the world of machinery. Too often I hear that a car or a tractor or even a computer is not working well because “it is getting old.” My feelings could be partly due to sympathy for the machine, since I am getting old myself, but they are mostly because I know how great older machines can be, and how simple they can be to get back into working shape.

Studies on marketing psychology indicate that although people may think they make decisions based only on information and logic, they commonly make them based on emotion.

I have a favorite picture that’s hanging on my office wall. It was taken by my father-in-law in the summer of 1992. It’s a picture of me and my then-2-year-old daughter, Elise. My back is to the camera, and I’m holding Elise, who is facing the camera with her head resting on my shoulder as she looks at the camera with her big, Jersey cow-brown eyes.